Alina
by Liarra
Summary: Originally, Alina is just delivering a message from her mother, but instead, she ends up living at Discipline. She has pretty good relationships with all, except Briar of course."The Pain!"
1. Prolouge

Nikalarne Goldeye stared into the sunset. She was going to come, she had to come. She had promised. Soon, he heard a faint sound of galloping in the wind. His face lit up. Maria was coming! Maria was his love and he would see her! Niko saw something in the fog and squinted trying to see it. It was a person, on a horse, and the person had shoulder-length blonde hair. Probably a girl... he thought. But it can't be Maria, Maria has brown hair! Moments passed, and the girl came forward.  
  
"I have come." she said, her voice strangely monotone.  
  
"But... Where's Maria?" Niko bit his lip trying to keep from crying.  
  
"Maria loves another. She asked me to come instead." Somehow, it was the first time Niko had noticed this, but there was a bright light inside of her. So bright it seemed blinding, much like his own.  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
"Alina." a tear slowly trickled down her cheek. "She loves the Duke."  
  
"Come here now." said Niko gently, feeling tears form in his own eyes. He held out his arms to the girl he had only known for a minute, and they wept on each other's shoulders. Neither knew why they were so open to a stranger, but at least now they had somewhere to weep.  
  
"Come, you must be tired after all that running. You must stay here for a while. I'll be at Discipline for supper, care to join me?" Alina looked at the man for a moment. He seemed like a nice person, especially if he was all her mother had said he was. He didn't seem like the type of person who would snatch up children for his own evil ends.  
  
"Alright."  
  
~*~  
  
There was a thump. A great big thump. Sandrilene fa Toren let out a squeak. She had never been fond of mysterious thumps and sounds.   
  
"Oof!" she heard a muffled sound coming from Briar's room. She let out her breath, she hadn't realized she was holding it. Sandry went over to the room next door to find Briar lying at the bottom rubbing his head. three knives around him. Briar got up quickly and looked at Sandry nervously.   
  
"Come on Sandry, don't tell! I wasn't using them! I swear! I was just practicing. You know I don't want to rely on magic for everything!" said Briar nervously. Sandry hadn't said anything. Briar picked up all the knives on the floor and put them under his pillow. "Please! Whatever you do, don't tell Niko... Or Lark, or Rosethorn. Please?" he looked so worried. And Sandry had't even thought of telling.  
  
"Fine, I won''t."  
  
"Phew." Briar smiled. "Thanks."  
  
Merely a moment later there was a knocking on the door. Niko's knock, Thought Briar. Briar grabbed Sandry's hand and dragged her into the hall. Just as Briar had guessed, it was Niko. But there was something wrong, he looked... distressed. There was something else that was odd as well, next to him was a girl. She was blonde and had a mysterious look about her, she was Briar, Sandry, Daja and Tris's age but she looked mature beyod her years. Like Tris, and Daja and Sandry. There was just something about her, he couldn't place his finger on it, but there was something about her that was magical.  
  
"Briar, Sandry." said Niko acknoledging the two's presence.   
  
"Hi." they coroused.  
  
"This is Alina, occupy her for a while while I talk to your teachers." the pair nodded.  
  
"Why are you named after a plant?" asked Alina bluntly.  
  
"It's better than being named after an old dead guy." Briar retorted. Alina smiled.  
  
"Just wanted to know who was who." Sandry smiled. She could see that Briar's temper was coming up.   
  
"Come on, I'll show you the roof."  
  
"Thanks, sound cool. Have you ever seen that show? The one with the lions?" as the two girl walked away, their voices became quieter and quieter, until they could not be heard at all.  
  
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That was just a test run. Tell me if you like it. If so, it'll be the Prolouge. Well, the top part is anyways, and chapter 1 hasn't started yet. So, yeah. Review! (You've already read, right? Right?) 


	2. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Man, it has been a long time since I have written any fanfiction whatsoever. The only reason I'm writing it now is probably that I just saw Harry Potter and I have been inspired. Or something...  
  
Alina  
  
-----  
  
As soon as Niko left to do some business Briar's hands found themselves toying with his knifes. They were a great way to relieve stress, really. Who was that girl, anyhow? She had arrives merely minutes ago and it seemed now that she was going to live with them. Rosethorn and Lark were setting up her bed on the couch at the moment and Sandry was showing her around.  
  
"GIRLS! BRIAR!" yelled Rosethorn. Briar's head perked up in interest. Was it food? He had always loved food, though he didn't know anyone who disliked it. Especially none of the boys in his rooms back in the main magic learning area. Those guys were pigs.  
  
"It's dinner!" yelled Lark, knowing that would bribe Briar any day. Briar was quick to head over in that direction, but not before carefully putting away his knives.   
  
"I'm coming already!" yelled Briar as he walked out of his bedroom. As soon as he entered the small room he noticed the new girl staring at him. Briar glanced behind him, wondering if there was not something slightly more interesting at the other side of his head. There wasn't. It was an eerie feeling to be watched, and Briar found himself edging uncomfortably into his seat.  
  
Sandry watched her new companion give Briar a silent and cold. Something about him must have turned her off. But what? Briar was really quite nice, and gentle, and Sandry really couldn't figure out what was getting her so worked up... Well, she wasn't entirely sure if she even was getting worked up in the first place, but she certainly didn't seem very happy.  
  
The dinner was very chatty, but no more than usual. However, one of the chattiest people of the bunch was barely saying a word. Tris's eyes kept wandering to the only male in the "family". He looked rather pale. His eyes widened for a moment, but he shook his head. This wasn't-this was ridiculous. Not likely... Impossible! Tris wished for a moment that she could read minds.  
  
About mid-meal Niko burst in the room looking rather stressed. "Children, I advise you leave-and Tris! No listening in." Tris looked shyly. Niko hardly ever reprimanded her anymore.  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
Niko merely waited until they were into the appropriate bedrooms before he began.  
  
"She has married the Duke, you know." he whispered.  
  
"No!" cried Lark, shocked.  
  
"The girl notified me today. I don't understand-well, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."  
  
"Then what did you want to talk about?" retorted Rosethorn.  
  
"Alina.. it seems to me she has unique powers... well, not unique, really, but I have a funny feeling she wouldn't get along with the other children."  
  
"Give her a chance to." said Rosethorn, who had noticed the subtle glares that Briar had been recieving all night.  
  
"I guess I should." sighed Niko. He raised his eyes slightly from the position where they had been before, the ground.  
  
"Then it's settled, she'll be moving into the other dorms tomorrow." said Rosethorn.  
  
Lark watched her best friend curiously. Why did she want her out so much? Weren't they supposed to accept those that were different? Lark shrugged it off for the moment. They would see how this girl did with other children.  
  
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Hi again. r/r. At this time of night I cannot think of anything more interesting to say. 


	3. Chapter 2

Alina

"Five students! Five!" growled Rosethorn angrily as she hammered at the wood as it twisted and bent under her control. Lark looked up lazily from sewing the girl's carpet.  
  
"Don't get so worked up about it." said Lark soothingly. Rosethorn shook her head, she didn't particularely feel like fighting right now, she was putting all of her power into building this room for this girl.  
  
"But Lark," said Rosethorn some what put off, "What if we get another student, and then another? It's ridiculous!" she growled. Lark shrugged.  
  
"There's nothing we can do about it, we can hardly deny them of an education." Rosethorn agreed with her begrudgingly.  
  
"Rosethorn?" called out a young voice from the shadows. Plants leaned in towards him, as though wanting to get closer to him. Rosethorn murmered in acknowledgement of his presence. "Could I help?" Rosethorn glanced up at Briar from her work.  
  
"Of course you can." she said handing him a hammer.  
  
"Won't it hurt them?" he asked.  
  
"Not if you do it softly." she replied. Briar nodded and did as she directed. It wasn't very hard, and it took his mind off the day at hand. Sandry had been with Alina all day while Tris had been with Niko and Daja at Frostpine's forge. And there was absolutely no way he would come even close to her. The night before she had been glaring at her like he was the devil himself. 'Course, he could say he was **devilishly handsome**, but he was hardly the devil. He had been clean for a while now. The only person who had anything worth stealing was Dedicate Gorse, but he gave it to Briar for free, and why steal something when you can get it for free? Then there was Crane, and he hadn't been allowed anywhere near his glass building since he had taken his shakkan.  
  
"Briar? Come with us." beckoned Sandry cheerfully. Briar looked at Rosethorn as a futile last attempt to stay away from the strange new girl. Rosethorn merely smiled at him. It might be good for him to get to know the other girl. To Briar it looked as though she were putting him on a silver platter to be eaten savagely and chewed, then digested until he came out. He glared at Rosethorn as fiercely as he could, but she just smiled at him.  
  
Lark suppressed a laugh from behind him. He scowled. Was everyone out to get him? What had he done to... everybody?  
  
"See, Briar!" said Sandry as she dragged him into her bedroom. On her bed lay a shirt and a pair of breeches. He looked at her suspiciously. "Try it on!" she said happily. Briar was about to refuse when Alina stepped into the room, and his mouth stopped altogether.  
  
_Flashack_  
  
"You promise, Roach?" asked a soft voice, a voice so soft and calm, you could have mistaken it for the voice of an adult.  
  
"I promise." said the boy as he let the two unfamiliar words roll around on his toungue. His vision creeped up from her hand, getting closer to her face.  
  
_End of Flashback_  
  
"NO!" he screamed. His hands covered his ears desperately, his eyes scrunched up. He couldn't! Of all times not now! A hand touched his back, and a cooling sensation trickled through his boiling skin.  
  
"Briar? Are you okay?" asked Sandry worried. She seemed higher than him. Briar opened his eyes widely, he hadn't noticed falling to the ground... had he? He had. What had made him fall to the ground? He caught a glance of Alina's feet and remembered in an instand before he pushed it out of his mind once more. He would have to control himself around her. He couldn't let her see his weekness.  
  
He looked up at her once more. She was looking straight ahead, her expression as hard as ever. This was going to be a long period of time. He couldn't wait to leave. Until then he would be stuck with this. . . Girl. He looked up at Sandry wryly. "Yeah I'm okay. Just had a bit of a spell there." he lied.  
  
Why was it that every time he came close to remembering he felt like he was about to explode? Like something was very wrong and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Something that was so terrible, even he, someone who had survived everything that the fates had thrown at him, could not handle it? There was one thing for sure, he would not, could not let this control his life. All he had to do was try not to get too close to her, then nothing like this would happen again.  
  
He strolled over to where Lark and Rosethorn were working, and picked up a hammer and went back to work. Rosethorn looked at him oddly. There was something different about him, he seemed afraid, and the Briar she knew wasn't afraid of very much. "What just happened back there?" she asked him.  
  
"Nothing." said Briar determinedly. This was something he wouldn't-couldn't even share with Rosethorn. Rosethorn knew he was lying. It was so obvious, it screamed and shrieked it to her. She looked over to Lark who, sensing the eyes atop her head, looked up in confusion. Rosethorn directed her eyes to the hardworking Briar and Lark furrowed her brow. She too sensed something was not right.  
  
Sandrilene fa Toren watched them from up on the roof. Alina had decided to go off on her own to explore the place. Sandry thought it had something to do with what happened, and whatever had just happened felt foreign to her, as though she would not be a part of it. She didn't know why, was Briar not one of them? Whatever happened to him happened to the others as well. She would have to talk with the others. She had never seen Briar this distressed before. Had it something to do with Alina? It seemed to, why else would he try and run away every time he saw her? But Alina seemed perfectly nice. Quiet, maybe, but nice.  
  
Alina felt a quiet rage burn inside of her. It had been burning for so long... and then her mother, and now this? Why did all the damage seem to head in her direction? What had she done so awfully wrong in a past life that had put her in for a life of torture in this one? A calm wind tousled her hair gently. She wanted to hurt something so badly, but every time she had, she had regretted it deeply afterward. This would no likely be no different. But Briar? Surely he deserved some punishment. But no, if anyone found out, they would kick her out. Of course, after which she could always go home... but was that really an option with her and the duke being together? The man was the worst kind of man. He was the essense of evil. As is Briar Moss, she thought.  
  
No he isn't. A small voice in her head whispered. You know he isn't. It's just the only reason you can think of why he would do something like that to you. That's not true! she countered, ready for a full on battle. Yes it is. Said the small part of her head. She shook it and blocked that part of her brain out. She would not think that.  
  
But now that the seed had been planted, doubt began to fester in her mind. Was she merely making excuses?

* * *

Authors Note:  
  
It's turning out a bit more angsty than I'm sure I intended... but then again, who can write a fluffy story? I sure can't. At the moment I haven't the faintest if Briar is going to turn into a whisp of smoke or if he and Sandry/Tris/Alina will get together. On that thought, I ought to get Tris in more, no? And no, Sandry and the others aren't going to be excluded from the story at all.  
  
R/R!


	4. Chapter 3

Alina

"He collapsed." said Tris in disbelief. "But Briar has got to have one of the most stable nervous systems I have ever seen! He never even gets frightened, and if he does, he never shows it."  
  
"It has something to do with Alina." said Sandry sadly. "I know it does."  
  
Tris scowled, not wanting to say what was running through her mind in case she sounded like she cared for him too much.  
  
"Why don't we ask him, I'm sure he'd tell us." said Daja.  
  
"Daja, you're so naive. Do you really believe that Briar, Mr. Tough Guy would actually admit to a weakness?" said Tris bitterly. Daja rolled her eyes. Tris often exagerated. Briar only put on a show, and if you knew him well enough you could break it. It was the same with iron. It looked tough, but if you put a lot of pressure on it, and/or heated it, it would melt or bend.  
  
"Have you tried?" asked Daja.  
  
"No..." said Tris.  
  
"Then how would you know? You can't know until you try." said Daja snidely.  
  
"Lets try, then." said Sandry trying to get the other girls' focus away from their bickering. The girls nodded and closed their eyes.  
  
_Briar?_ called Sandry in her mind.  
  
_Yeah?_ answered Briar calmly.  
  
_Do you know Alina?_ asked Tris.  
  
The link broke. The girls furrowed their brows. That had been strange. Why had he just broken off like that?  
  
"That's strange..." muttered Sandry.  
  
"Maybe he's just irritated at us for pestering him." hinted Tris. Something was making her dislike to talk about the newcomer. She knew it wasn't rational, that was for certain. It would have been so much nicer if it had rained. Sure, nice days were okay but... they just weren't the same. Besides, she reasoned, storms watered plants.  
  
"We've hardly been pestering him if we've only asked once." said Daja, rolling her eyes. "Maybe we should just go up to him and ask?"  
  
"All of us?" asked Tris.  
  
"Well... Yeah." replied Daja.  
  
"But what if he feels like we're ganging up on him?" asked Tris.  
  
"If you're so concerned, why don't you just go!" said Daja exasperatedly.  
  
"I"m not concerned!" snapped Tris. She got up in a huff, her skirts whirling about her as she headed to ask Briar.  
  
Sandry sighed, they liked to fight with each other too much.

* * *

Briar looked up into the sky. It was so nice. Or, rather, it had been until the girls had contacted him. Not that the sky had anything to do with that, but it was the only thing he could blame it on. He heard Tris's familiar clomp up the stairs. He sat up straight, ready to dart down any moment.  
  
"Don't you move, Briar Moss!" snapped Tris from the attic door. Briar froze at the edge of the roof.  
  
"Me? Move? What do you think I am? A shirker?" said Briar innocently.  
  
"That's exactly what I think you are, now sit down." grumbled Tris.  
  
"Why does it matter to you whether I'm here or not while you watch the clouds?" muttered Briar. Tris rolled her eyes.  
  
"Because I want to interrogate you, if you really want to know." she said.  
  
"About what?" asked Briar hesitantly. Her hand gripped his arm with her painful grasp.  
  
"Why are you so afraid of her?" she whispered curiously.  
  
"I'm not-" he started, then she gripped his arm tighter. "I don't know." he cried. He had not known how tightly she could squeeze. She let go.  
  
"You don't?" she asked. Briar shook his head.  
  
"I don't. But it hurts to think about her." he admitted. "I remembered something about a promise." he confessed, "But I don't know what that has got to do with her."  
  
"Maybe you used to know her?" said Tris.  
  
"Not likely. When I was a street rat, a noble wouldn't talk to me if it killed them. I can tell she's a noble. Have you seen the emblem on her sleeve? It's the symbol of one of the high houses... somewhere. I can't remember!" growled Briar. His head shot up. He hadn't realized he was actually telling someone this. "Don't tell them! Not Sandry, not Daja! Not Alina, either! Nor Rosethorn or any of the teachers or Dedicates! No one!" he emphasized, a panic in his eyes.  
  
"I won't." said Tris, knowing what it was like to keep a secret.  
  
"Promise?" asked Briar.  
  
"I promise." said Tris.

* * *

Author's Note  
  
No, this is not going to be Briar/Tris... I think. We'll see what it leads to. I'm sorry if I haven't been putting very much Daja in, she isn't exactly my favorite character. Sorry if I make her out to be a meanie, too. She isn't. Just a bit grouchy, methinks. 


	5. Chapter 4

Alina 

Author's Note: Yes, I have not worked on this story in wait, let me check, a year. Or more. Well, it feels like more than that. But, I have a main character named Alina in another one of my stories, but I like the other one better (it's original and I have a fair bit of attachment to my own creations). In this chapter I will try and boost the story out of its current randomness.

Maria of Shweisen, the Great and Beautiful Maria of Shweisen sat alone in her bedroom. She thought of a man named Nikalarn Goldeye whom she was supposed to have met a few weeks ago. He had been a bold and dashing man, twenty years her senior. She had been just sixteen and he a man of thirty-four. Eighteen, she corrected herself. He was eighteen years older. She had sent the servant girl Alina to tell him of her change in heart. She was a woman now, widowed twice with children of her own. She didn't need such nonsense. But still, a panging in her heart reminded her of a time when love was more important to her than family, or money, or anyone else. She had been swept up with her passion like the foam in the sea. But now... She twiddled with her thumbs as she thought about it. Him. She remembered his dark eyes and sparkling smile, not overwhite, but one that sparkled with happiness.

She then thought about the Duke. He was her age and therefore the arrangement was much more reasonable. He was a nice guy, she supposed. If it had been her choice she would have stayed with him, but never marrying. She had hoped to keep her rights as a widow. But now the child rumbling in her belly had forced her to a different path. She wondered how she could bare to love a child who took away her freedom. She sighed, forcing her mind to stray from such thoughts.

Her Duke had been in an awful mood lately. Ever since Alina left. She wondered if he knew where she had gone. He was a jealous man, and would be unhappy to hear of any past lovers. He even got bitter when she talked of her late husbands, probably wondering if he could match up to them. He couldn't. She also hoped he wouldn't realize if Alina never came back. She hoped she wouldn't. She didn't really like the girl. Maybe it was her hair, too blonde. Or her face, too round. Of course, the woman knew what she really hated about the girl but liked dissecting her and spinning hateful tales about her in her head. The girl acted as though she owned the place where the Duke lived, and the Duke let her prance around. Maria hated to admit she was jealous of the girl and how the Duke looked at her, but she was. The Duke held such a fondness in his eyes whenever he looked at her. Stupid girl.

The wedding was now two days away. Should she vomit now or later? Now seemed about right, she thought as she felt a wave of morning sickness coming on and she rushed to the bathroom.

* * *

Briar glared out the window pretending he wasn't struggling to remember who Alina was. Then he did. A loud thud sounded in the house as the shocked boy fell out of his chair. 


End file.
